As stoppage time beckoned, it seemed the least Northampton would achieve was two bonus points, enough to haul them off the bottom of the Premiership. The Saints were 10 yards from Bristol's line with numbers out wide, but one of the reasons they are in the relegation mire is the brittleness they have shown in the final minutes of matches and they meekly turned the ball over in what turned out to be their final attack.

They have had victory snatched from them in the final moments of three league matches at home this year. The tone had been set in their opening fixture against Newcastle back in September when, despite dominating in terms of territory and possession, they had Jonny Wilkinson to thank for their four points when he missed a stoppage time penalty.

At times yesterday, it seemed that Northampton were the side chasing a place in the play-offs, such was their ability to get the ball wide and attack space, but for every moment of skill, there were three unforced errors. Bristol were far more limited in terms of ambition and ability, but their organisation prevailed over the Saints' confusion and a team which for too long has built stands, hospitality boxes and squads, rather than team spirit is standing on the edge of a costly drop into the first division.

Northampton have had goal-kicking problems all season. Their conversion rate is 40%, they have kicked fewer penalties than any other club and when Carlos Spencer converted Matias Cortese's final quarter try, he became the club's first player to reach 50 points with the boot in the Premiership this season. The Saints have used six kickers, and the eight points they blew in the first-half left them with too much to do and no points from a game they should have won.

The interval score was 16-5 to Bristol, the same as it had been with a minute to go in the corresponding fixture 11 months ago when Northampton, out of nowhere, had fashioned two late tries to snatch victory from a game in which they had been overwhelmed, but yesterday they played as individuals, winning some personal battles but lacking the home side's togetherness.

The difference was summed up in the manner Bristol scored their final try. Northampton had pulled back to 26-19 down with Cortese's try, but softly lost the ball from the restart and Bristol set up camp on the Saints' line. The scrum-half Shaun Perry kept barking orders at his forwards to pick and go, at times picking up seasoned individuals such as Mark Regan and Andrew Blowers from the floor, ordering them to get into the next ruck, and after 14 phases the second row Roy Winters was shoved over the line for the winning try.

In contrast, Mark Robinson set up Cortese's try with a clever loop around the prop Soane Tonga'uiha, and it was the New Zealand scrum-half who broke from the penalty scrum in Bristol's 25 late in the game. He went on his own and was turned over: the home side's unit was stronger than Northampton's collection of individuals, and the way the Saints have recruited in recent years, scouring the globe for journeymen rather than relying on development, has led to resentment in the dressing room.

Worcester, the team immediately above Northampton, do not have as strong a squad, but they do have a bond. Much was expected of the New Zealand fly-half Carlos Spencer when he arrived at Franklin's Gardens last season, but the Premiership does not give a licence to thrill and Spencer, who started in the centre yesterday before moving to fly-half with 30 minutes to go, produced a few tricks, but took several wrong options, committed basic errors and made considerably less impact on the game than the Bristol fly-half Danny Gray, who was making his first Premiership start for three seasons.

"We should have had at least two bonus points out of the game," said the Northampton director of rugby, Paul Grayson. "We made too many mistakes and gifted them points, leaving us alone at the bottom. I am not proud of where we are, but we are not down yet and we'll fight all the way."

Northampton have the distraction of a Heineken Cup quarter-final at Biarritz on Sunday, a tournament Bristol all but qualified for through a victory that guaranteed they would finish in the top six. They have their sights on the play-offs, although a run of four consecutive defeats before yesterday had almost ensured that they would have an away draw should they finish in the top four.

It is questionable how much more Bristol have to give this season having already defied even their own expectations. Twice they appeared to be in control yesterday, at 16-5 and at 26-12 ahead with 13 minutes to go, only for defensive frailties which were not apparent in the opening half of the campaign to undermine them: Northampton's opening two tries through Ben Cohen and Sean Lamont were soft. Bristol's first try was well created, but for the most part grit and resolution got them through, two qualities Northampton lack.